Time to Think in Other Terms: A Response to Powell and the Median Mandate School

In response to my characterization of ideological congruence as an “illusion,” Powell (this issue) demonstrates that incongruence, while common, tends to be only moderate in most cases, a conclusion with which I agree. Nevertheless, I argue that the concept of ideological congruence is misleading when applied as Powell does, and problematic, if not meaningless, when applied in the alternative ways proposed by Best, Budge, and McDonald. For these reasons, the term continues to obscure more than it reveals.     

The Value of the Deputy's Mandate

An experiment, especially a social one, is attended by all manner of uncertainties. We naturally expected this to be the case in the Zernograd District [in the Rostov Region], where elections were conducted on the basis of the multi-deputy system.     

Illusions and Realities of the "New Era"

"Last week the world suffered a shock that will inevitably make us divide the time into two parts—before the terrorist acts in the United States and after them. Because a new world and a new world order are being born in the ruins of the World Trade Center" (S. Strokan', "The Dawn of a New Era" [Zarevo novoi ery], Kommersant-Vlast', 2001, no. 37 [18 September], p. 35). Not only the Russian political weeklies thought this. The tragic events that the United States suffered on 11 September not only sent many countries into shock but also sparked the idea that humanity suddenly found itself in an incomprehensible world, a new space-time—that life would be different from then on, that we would think differently and structure international relations differently. Even some of the supporters of Francis Fukuyama, who proclaimed the "end of history" more than ten years ago, hurriedly declared that the "oracle" was wrong, since on 11 September events of historic scale and significance had taken place in the United States. One critic of the American "prophet" noted, not without sarcasm, that "Black Tuesday" signified "the end of the end of history." That did not, however, shake the convictions of Fukuyama himself. In an article eloquently titled "History Is Still Going Our Way," published in The Wall Street Journal Europe on 8 October, he continued to assert that "we remain in the final stage of history" (F. Fukuyama, "History Is Still Going Our Way," The Wall Street Journal Europe, 8 October 2001).     

Temporal Limits on the Legislative Mandate: Entrenchment and Retroactivity

According to the general wisdom, legislatures lack both the power to "entrench" their enactments against alteration by their successors and the power to "retroactively" undo the efforts of their predecessors. The author argues that, rather than being in conflict, these principles share a common theme. Legislatures operate as agents of the people under constitutionally defined mandates that are limited in time as well as scope. Actions that transcend—either forward or backward in time—the temporal delegation of authority conferred by periodic elections do not bind the electorate. In the first half of the article the author suggests that an understanding of the rationale behind the entrenchment prohibition can help shed light on a diverse group of issues including congressional power to prescribe internal rules of operation, constitutional amendment procedures, and legislative impairment of contracts. In the second half of the article the author takes issue with the traditional objection to retroactivity grounded on vested rights and unfulfilled expectations. In its place he proposes a theory of retroactivity embodied in republican principles concerning the temporal relationship between the people and their legislative agents.     

意定代理权授予错误的效果论

当被代理人因存在授权错误而撤销授权行为时,对于相对人的保护,存在强保护模式、弱保护模式及其变体.在解释论上,我国应采取叠加保护模式.被代理人撤销授权行为后,代理人构成无权代理;当相对人为善意时,可构成表见代理.对于损害赔偿,可区分代理人是否知道被代理人存在授权错误:当代理人不知时,由被代理人承担损害赔偿责任;当代理人明知或应知被代理人存在错误时,由被代理人与代理人共同承担损害赔偿责任.此外,应肯定善意相对人对于法律效果的选择的可能性.当相对人存在过失时,根据《民法典》第157条和第171条第4款,通过权衡被代理人、代理人与相对人的过错以实现对损害的分担.当相对人明知时,原则上不予保护,但代理人亦属明知的情形除外.     

经理雇佣合同与委任合同之分辨

对于经理与公司之间的合同关系是雇佣还是委任的问题,应当以从属性作为基本判断标准,依据人格从属和经济从属予以认定。总经理给付劳务由于不具有从属性,应当属于委任合同。对于除总经理外的高级经理和低级经理,应当依据从属性指标体系甄别从属性程度差异,给予差别化的劳动法保障。在员工升任总经理的情况下,原雇佣合同与新委任合同可以并存,双方有特别约定则从其约定,无特别约定则原雇佣合同中止,待委任合同终止后继续履行。     

Fuzzy Legality in Regulation: The Legislative Mandate Revisited

How does law interact with regulatory reality, and why does legislative mandate, which presumably stands at the apex of a regulatory package, often deviate from its ideal‐type as exclusive organizer of action? These questions are treated in this article through the concept of “fuzzy legality,” which serves as a common title for six different legal arrangements that stray from the ideal‐type legislative mandate, while enabling “perfectly legal” industry behavior. Against the background of potential dangers involved in such practices, the article traces the politics of preference for fuzziness both by regulators and regulatees. It reassesses calls for responsive and reflexive law as a cure for the regulatory malaise: these may have been voiced due to existing overly rigid regulatory frameworks, rather than the intrinsic flaw of legal constructs.     

Discursive Illusions in Legislative Discourse: A Socio-Pragmatic Study

This paper takes the position that interpretations of legal discourse are invariably taken in the context of socio-pragmatic realities to which a particular instance of discourse applies. What makes this process even more complicated is the fact that social realities themselves are often negotiated within the mould of one’s subjective conceptualisations of reality. Institutions and organisations, including people in power, often represent socio-political realities from an ideologically fuelled perspective, engendering many ‘illusory’ categories often a result of contested versions of reality. To substantiate this view, we discuss interpretations of a number of interesting contemporary and controversial laws, including America’s Patriot Act and Hong Kong’s proposed Article 23 of the Basic Law. Both laws can be seen as illustrative of the definitional conflict that abstract concepts such as democracy and human rights are subjected to in their own specific socio-political contexts. While America crowns itself with democracy and Hong Kong struggles to achieve it in effective synthesis with its unique political arrangement, the laws produced by both contrasting political systems are unexpectedly similar, aiming for the moderation of basic rights. The actions of both governments set against their beliefs and discourses, and furthermore set against one another and other media voices, particularly those of non-governmental organisations, political activists, and other socio-political groups, demonstrate contestation of realities, giving rise to ‘discursive illusions’, which seem to be interpreted not so much on the basis of their linguistic construction but more on the basis of socio-pragmatic factors, such as trust, belief, transparency, control and power.     

外汇储备:幻觉、偏好与陷阱

发展中国家由于长期受制于外汇短缺,因而特别注重外汇储备的累积,过分看重外汇储备的作用,从而形成了"外汇储备幻觉"和"外汇储备偏好",进而落入"外汇储备陷阱".中国在这一方面的问题尤其突出,这需要从国内和国外两种渠道寻求有效的途径来加以解决.     

Illusions of necessity: evading responsibility for choice in health care

Discretionary power is commonly defended by denial of its existence, the allegation of inevitability. Objective external conditions and forces are claimed to dictate policy decisions with tangible distributional effects. In health policy, such forces include the aging of the population, the extension of technology, and the demands of ethical standards. Taken together, these forces create relentless upward pressure on costs, to levels which society "cannot afford," necessitating sacrifice of the interests of the "less eligible." Yet quantitative analysis of these forces does not sustain the argument; in each case the source of cost escalation is not external pressure but the way in which the health care system itself reacts. Less costly and equally effective options are demonstrably available, but would threaten provider interests and broader ideologies. A spurious cloak of inevitability serves to promote and justify political choices.     

Information Technology Transfer to African Nations: An Economic Development Mandate

The global revolution caused by the advancement and deployment of information technology (IT) demands the full involvement of the entire international community if the technology is to be ultimately effective. IT which continues to revolutionize all facets of life in the developed world has the potential to affect African countries in historic proportions. IT presents several opportunities and challenges for developing African countries, including Africa. There are opportunities for fostering technological capabilities, and thus enhancing the prospect of economic development. This paper highlights the opportunities facing African countries in the information age. The challenges that African countries must face in order to experience the full impact of the technology are discussed. A policy framework for the transfer of IT to African countries is presented and several Internet resources relating to IT transfer in Africa are provided.     

Current Illusions and Delusions about Conflict Management—In Africa and Elsewhere

This paper provides a critical perspective on the use of U. S. alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches for managing conflict in African and other communities. It argues that imposition of American ADR as a condition for foreign aid or capital investment is deeply problematic, and urges a more sophisticated analysis of the power dimensions and ideological basis of ADR. When viewed as an ideologically laden paradigm for how conflict should be resolved (i. e., a conflict paradigm), ADR can be seen as carrying troubling baggage. For example, ADR approaches imported from the United States deal with dispute resolution simply in terms of mechanisms or techniques, ignoring substantive issues central to conflict management in African and other communities. The entire discourse surrounding ADR pays insuficient attention to problems with terms such as modern or traditional, and encourages an ingenuous denial of the effects of inequality in power and money on conflict resolution. This ideological baggage renders unreflective imposition of ADR incompatible with the best interests of African communities. The authors urge a more complete and objective analysis of the global ADR revolution-one that takes a broader perspective.